The Evil Campaign

This is the evil campaign that the you guys said i needed to run. so enjoy suffering

Ovallah, Scrysin, Tanya and Thorndale decide to ride the four Raptors north and scouting out the Giant Ants. They discover two entrances to the Ants Nest. They also discover three distinct types of Ants. Medium sized ‘worker ants’, Large sized ‘Soldier Ants’ and Huge sized ‘Commander ants’ that wore copper helmets. Between them they devised a plan to smoke out the ants and use walls of thorns to control them. Planning to put it in action they head back to their camp.

The Elves are given charge of the contents of Haven’s Ark. Containing the expedition that Haven was planning on sending to the New World and all the supplies that the Princess could get her hands upon.

They Set sail on course to 190* hoping to end up above a mountain 1500 Miles Away. They Set sail with a full crew of Landlubbers, even the officers.

One of the Air Elementals got loose from a faulty sealing stone, it just created a few Healing Chimes to be given to the other Air Elementals so they could Heal themselves. And not be destroyed by the Engines.

There was also a small mix-up with the oil burning engine, some joker loaded it with trash, thinking it was an incinerator.. It had to be taken apart and fully cleaned. It worked properly now. There is a 100 Tons of Fuel Oil (50,000 Gallons) Enough to power it continuously for 1000 Hours at 50 PF Thrust.

The Turbine Engine also seized up on them, Someone Else apparently was supposed to put the oil into it. To keep the gears from binding.

Needless to say anything that could go wrong with an airship short of encountering anything hostile with no weapons of war did go wrong.

Reaching the Plateau they turn to heading 220* for 150 miles until they come to a fork in a mighty river where they arbitrary decided to base their Empire at.

All their mounted units were sent out to scout the surrounding area. Within a 50 miles radius, the same area that the Reactive Map’s on-board the Ark display. Only three things of mention were reported.

To the North about 45 miles a large group of Giant Ants were reported.
To the West about 15 miles were a couple of herds of Walking Cows were reported.
To the South about 30 miles were a lot of Giant Walking Lizards.

They decided to head south towards the Lizardmen, Bringing the entire army with them, a force some four hundred strong of Infantry and Light Calvary.

Zentis uses his power of Knowledge to learn that the Lizardmen worship Raptors. Thorndale Calls Woodland brings to summon any nearby Raptors. There were four with tribal warpaint on them answer his Call.

The Elves mount up on the Raptors and entered the Lizardmen camp. All the lizard men genuflected when they saw the Raptors. Eventually one was found that spoke Elven to serve as a Translator.

The Warlord of this Tribe is one known as Ssisal. He spoke words of homage to those that rode the Masters and described the area fairly decently, not mentioning either the Cows or Ants. He mentioned also that the Lizardmen their were wanderers, nomads without a permanent home.

The Elves offered the Lizardmen to settle in the Swamps and plains Just south of where the Castle Blackheart will be built. They agree. Thorndale offers a spear to Ssisal who accepts it.

The Elves return north, this journey takes a week to move all the troops as one unit.

Once they arrive at the Landing Grounds they find the great Ark of Haven has been fully opened up and is in the process of being disassembled to use the finished timbers for construction of their Empire’s Stronghold. The Civilians are well underhand being directed by an old Elf that has a Metallic Elf keeping inventory of every piece of gear.

The party heads south along the only unexplored corridor on this floor. the first room they come to contains a bed, a small oak table, a wooden chair, wooden footlocker and a pile of papers. The table has been toppled over, the chair has been smashed into pieces, the footlocker has been broken open, the papers are scattered over the floor, and the bed covers are smeared with blood. A search reveals nothing of importance in the room.

The next room is on the left hand side. Walking into the room they see Five double bunk beds in the room. At the foot of each bed are two footlockers. On the east wall something was scrawled but its too far to make out clearly due to a red stain.

The footlockers are all empty. The writing on the wall says “BEWARE OF TRAVIS”, the red smear was from a human that had been killed and thrown at the sign, You assume that it was Travis that was killed.

Soroku found a secret door across the hall from the Barrack’s. They see a small room. The only furniture in the room is a wooden stool. There is a small spy hole in the secret door that lets someone inside the room see the corridor outside. A rope bell pull hangs from a hole in the ceiling. a good search reveals nothing else in the room, and they elect to Not ring the bell.

Continuing south down the hall they come to another door on the right hand side, opening it up they see 10 stone statues that appear to have been dummy’s that ceremonial armor would have been placed upon. On the walls were empty weapon hooks, again enough to outfit ten guardsmen.

They go up some stairs and continue south until the corridor turns west. As soon as they turn the corner there is a door, opening it they see that…

..a small bed of fresh straw lies in the northwestern corner of this room. A wooden plate, a pair of eating knives, and a bronze wine goblet rests on a table in the center of the room. Under the table is a wooden bowl filled with meat. Several old tapestries have been hung from the walls, and bits of fur and other types of floor coverings form a makeshift carpet. A lit lantern hangs over the table.

The bed is askew, and there is a stone pried up with a chest sized hole in the ground beneath the false stone.

They continue west down the corridor and find a door leading to the south this time. Directly across the room from the door in the north wall is a huge wooden table. Behind it is set an ornately carved wooden chair. On the table is a candlestick, a feathered quill pen and several (8) blank pieces of parchment.

A hidden door is found in the SW corner of the room, disarming a trap and unlocking it, they go down a hallway and come to another room. This room holds ten double bunk bed’s. There are twenty dead human-like creatures that look like a combination of animals and men. Despite their weird looks, they creatures are all wearing the uniforms of palace guards. The uniforms do not however fit properly. The bodies are also stacked up in a corner of the room. All weapons and armor have been taken from them.

Going back out to the long hallway they follow it another 60 feet west and come to a fork. They choose the left fork and come into a room with a dozen jail cells branching off it. In the room they see two large apes with white fur dieing to spear thrusts from the kobolds that they sent ahead of them.

Two of the kobolds remain behind to skin the large apes while the other squad and half trot off to the north, to clear the way for the party. They leave a chest behind, Opening it the elves see the following..

..1000 Capul’s, 500 Seran’s, 250 Guilder’s in coin there is also a pair of small silver dragon statues, There is also a small black piece of silk cloth wrapped up on top of the coins. Unfolding the silk reveals a jewelers Monocle, 2 Small blue stones, 1 large green stone, 2 tiny red stones, 1 gold ring with “DB” Engraved on the inside of the band, and 1 silver ring with tiny pieces of rose quarts and amethyst.

The Elves head north following after the kobolds troops. They come to a cave filled with piles of the strange statues. After smashing a few statues and not finding anything of value they continue north for another 50’ before turning east then south for about 40’ entering a cavern roughly 30’ by 20’ containing the dead bodies of five of the kobolds and some yellow fungus that is burning, but not producing any smoke. They wait for the fire to go out then go east coming to some stairs the elves come across the kobolds, afraid of going up the stairs.

The Elves snicker and head up the stairs as Ovallah goes up he notices a cunningly hidden trap, he leans down to disarm it, moments later a pair of wicked looking blades swing down crashing into each other a scant few inches from his nose.

He continues onward and up he stairs keeping to the shadows coming eventually to a small room. In the center of the room were three human-like reptiles with short tails, long legs, and a spiny “Comb” on their heads and arms. They were headed up the next set of stairs.

The Elves gain surprise on the strange beings and manage to kill them rather handily. Going up the stairs they come to yet another room, this one with a ladder up to the ceiling in the center of the room.

This room is higher then the surrounding countryside so that guards could look out on the surrounding land when standing watch. There are windows in the west and south walls. They notice that the red glow still surrounds the palace. IN the center of the room is an iron Ladder. The ladder leads to a trap door in the ceiling. By the south wall you see a statue that looks like a high priest of earth. He looks frightened and had apparently just finished scratching a message into the wall. The inscription reads:

They climb up the ladder coming to a Watch Tower with six windows overlooking the surrounding lands. There is a the trap door they climbed up in the center of the floor. A stone statue of a guard stands looking out each window. Except for the statues the room looks empty, besides a door to the east. After pushing all six statues out the windows and watching them shatter they go through the door which opens into a stone hallway lined with tapestries, they go down a small flight of stairs and room filled with stuffed animals, shelves filled with books and scrolls, and jars of powders and herbs. Strange symbols are painted on the walls. An iron statue of a warrior stands in the southeast corner of the room, a polishing cloth is draped over the warrior’s shield. There was a single door in the north of the room, which they go through, not touching anything within the room.

Which opens into a sideways hallway with three doors ahead, they choose the left and come into a small room which contained only a plain bed and huge wooden desk, which was empty.

Backtracking they choose right and come to a room with a mirror hung on the east wall. in front of the mirror is a wash stand. On top of the wash stand is a porcelain bowl filled with water. A statue stands in front of the wash stand. The statue is of an old man with long hair and a beard. The man wears a robe with magical symbols. The statue of the man appears to be trimming its bead with a pair of scissors. Shattering the statue they backtrack yet again, Choosing the middle door.

The middle door opens into a 30′×30′ room with a door in the NW corner of the north wall. The room is completely empty.

The door opens into a room with a large canopy bed with heavy dark red curtains. The curtains are all closed. Three matching rugs lay side by side on the floor. The room also contains a long wooden dresser, a matching chest of drawers, and a large stuffed easy chair. There is a door to the North and to the East.

They go north into decent sized room filled with symbols holy to the Earth and Water elemental favored by the priests of Haven. Three large, human-like individuals are splashing fresh blood on the holy symbols using large paint buckets. The three creatures are extremely hairy and ugly-looking. So absorbed with their “painting” they do not notice the elves until after they are surprised, all the creatures have time to do is register shock in their eyes then die.

The Elves backtrack and go out the eastern door, entering into a huge chamber. This large ballroom is decorated in silver, red, and blue. The two huge fireplaces are stacked with logs. A bell shaped wire framework hangs from the ceiling, supported by four white marble columns. The framework is decorated with intertwined leaves and flowers. You hear the strains of eerie music. Two pale, shadow apparitions are dancing to the sounds of the strange music. The two figures are dressed in clothing that was popular more then three hundred years ago.

The party sneaks along the south wall so as not to disturb the apparitions. Where they come to an open glass door which leads into the Palace Garden. The garden is roofless and is lite from above by a blood red light. The garden has become completely overgrown with weeds. Except for a large stand of white rose bushes in the center of the garden, all the flowers that once grew here have died. One type of weed seems most common in the garden. The weed is a large bush. It has a dwarf-sized central trunk covered with sickly-looking green leaves. Growing out of the central, mound-like trunk is a tangle of many thorny brown branches. There are about a dozen of these weeds. Beneath the weeds their sharp eyes pick out the faint traces of a cobblestone patch that wanders through the garden.

As the elves crept through the garden being wary to step on any of the weeds, the thorny bushes shoot sprays of thorns at them, all of which missing, the weeds were soon burnt away and the passage to the east was cleared. On the ground next to the door was another of the familiar silver dragon statuette’s that when two are pressed to the Eye; Ariksbane will be freed from the Dimension of Ice to destroy the Eye with his breath.

Exiting the garden they come to a hallway fork going all four directions, they choose east. The last door down the hall opens to a small room containing a counter along the east wall. Beneath the counter top is a pair of sliding cabinet doors. The room otherwise appears to be empty.

The closer door opens into a room about half the size of the garden. This large dining hall is paneled with rough wood. Wooden bracing beams run from floor to ceiling along all four walls. Crossbeams run from the bracing beams, supporting the wooden ceiling. A large fireplace is set in the north wall. A long U-shaped wooden table dominates the center of the room. Stuffed animal heads, obviously hunting trophies, hang on the walls.

Searching the room the elves find a book on the mantle which the orcs that serve Arik took from the library and left here. As the elves go to leave the hall down from the ceiling whip a bunch of tentacles trying to ensnare them.. However the Decapus’s was soon defeated which are soon cut down.

Heading south they come to a small room, that holds piles of broken furniture. Standing among the remains of the furniture is a huge fearsome, human-like creature about 9’ tall. The creature is wearing skins for clothing. Swinging a giant sized club at the nearest elf, who nimbly dodges out of the way, the elves press the attack with the Ogre off balance, Slaying it. A quick search reveals a hollow place in the club which contains 333 Guilders.

Continuing southward they come to a room containing a wooden table and several wooden chairs. Standing next to the fireplace is a man dressed in the uniform of the palace guard. The man’s body has more then a dozens tab wounds, which would normally kill an individual. As they approach it leaps at them, tripping over its own legs, they leap to attack and quickly destroy it, when they are unable to Command the Wight. A careful search of the room reveals a chest containing 2000 Guilders and a Small Smoky Quartz Ball.

Coming at least to what is obviously the Throne Room, An ornate silver and oak throne sits atop a dais along the center of the north wall. On either side of the dais is a tapestry showing the changing seasons in Haven. Spring and Summer are showing on the tapestry to the left of the throne. Fall and winter are shown on the tapestry to the right of the throne. The room is filled with statues of men, women and dwarves. The statues are arranged to resemble a typical court scene. One statue kneels before the throne, statues of guards flank the throne, a statue of a councilor is leaning over, as if whispering to a person on the throne.) Resting in the middle of the Throne is a ruby the size of a large man’s fist carved into the shape of a Heart.

As they approach the throne, smashing all the statues in their way (though a patch was clear to reach the throne.) As soon as the first of them touches the ruby, red vapors billow up from it and surround the dais, momentarily obscuring vision. When the smoke clears, several fighter in glowing red place mail with red swords and shields. There just happens to be enough that one statue will approach each of the Elves.

A fierce battle ensues, after ten rounds the Red Knights disappear, with not even a wisp of smoke to mark their disappearance.

They waste no time in pressing two of the silver statues against the heart. The Dragon Ariksbane was freed from the Dimension of Ice. The dragons breath Disintegrates the ruby into dust, which scatters with a wing buffet.

As soon as the ruby Eye of ARik is destroyed, the disaster which has befallen Haven will not only be ended. it begins to reverse. Sick cattle recover, withered crops grow green again. The orcs, goblins, hobgoblins that invaded Haven at the Eye’s call will flee. The army besieging the Protectors was scattered. Those people turned to stone will become flesh.

However those that were unfortunate enough to die as a result of the disaster (or were destroyed as statues) will not be restored to life.

Princess Argenta appears along with Dragon-lord Ellis in a swirl of red mist beside the throne.

She looks around sadly and approaches the Elves.

“Gracious Elves, I greet thee on behalf of the people of Haven. Thank you for all you have done, a pity that you didn’t know what the statues were, the loss of life is near catastrophic.”

“I will see you all awarded the Silver Star of Haven, post-haste.” Turning to address her Court, " Scribe see to it, At Once." Turning back to the Elves. “Which amongst you is the Leader?” she asks.

Soroku steps forth and says “I am the Darkest of Her Servants here.” As he says this, the air in the throne room begins to chill, everyone’s breath frosting the air. All light in the room seems to be swallowed up by a deep dark void that seems to center itself into a Ring on the middle finger of his left hand.

The Princess visible swallows the says in a shaky voice.. “We serve Earth and Water here, but owe our very live to you. I pledge on behalf of Haven our full and utter fealty. We have been preparing an expedition to the new world. I offer it to you our champions.”

“There are enough colonist that each of you can have two units of tradesmen each five hundred craftsmen of some sort. You will also be given four units of ten guardsmen and one unit of ten mounted scouts.”

“We have enough gold supplies and gold on hand to establish a good foothold, Timber is abundant everywhere, stone and metals are in the mountains, the rest should be obvious to those of your caliber. "
……
To be continued tomorrow. 2 march 11

We resume where we left off last week with Dale Thorndaleand OVallah Wyldmanestanding outside of a door. Ovallah checks and there are no traps. They open the door and see in the center of the room a soft wooden/paper mache’ There is a light source on the other side of the screen and two shadowy figures moving around behind it. With surprise on their hand Thorndale lashes out with his great maul, while Ovallah throws both his long and short sword straight into the hear to two wooden dummies.

After a little bit of searching it was discovered that the dresses were in fact enchanted with minor breezes to keep the wearer cool, so they always billowed as though a gust of wind was on them. By this time though Ovallah had already shredded them with his swords, the spell dissipated unused.

Continuing down the hallway around a few turns they come to a pair of doors, now normally they choose Left at any fork but this time they choose the Right.

The floor of this room is covered with sand. The sand is bloodstained. A rack on the north wall holds a number of large knives and meat cleavers. In the center of the room is a large wooden block about 2’ high, 3’ long, and 2’ wide. The wooden block is also blood stained. Two closed doors lead out of the butchers room, west and south. They go west and find some stairs leading down into a cave.

As they went down the stairs they noticed a rapid drop in temperature. The temperature was nearly freezing at the bottom of the stairs. It was plain to see that the walls of the large cave were covered with a thin layer of ice. Hanging from Hooks in the ceiling are slabs of meat. Cow, Chicken, Goat, Pick, Lamb meat. their was also a couple of baskets of fish.

Finding nothing of interest beyond the pantry. They climb back up the stairs and head to the south doorway, along the way Thorndale notices a trap door on the floor, they both get down and pry it open. They found a ladder down to a landing at an underground river channel that flowed below the room. They were going to explore farther butt the noise of scurrying around upon rocks made them decide to head back up topside. At the base of the ladder Thorndale notices a glint on the ground, a small bag with something shiny tied onto it, as he goes to grab it out of nowhere Ovallah snatches it and darts up the ladder. They dump it out and poor over the contents a few gold and silver pieces which they split up evenly leaving the copper. Ovallah takes the jade ring with dragons carved onto it, as Thorndale took the one was with the wolves head on it earlier.

The room to the south is a rectangular shaped room. The first thing they noticed was a tapestry hanging on each wall; they show scenes from the life of a female minstrel. In front of each tapestry is a couch. Pillows of various sizes are scattered on the couches. Empty wine goblets and wine bottles are piled into one corner of the room. Decorative candle holders filled with candle stubs sit on small tables near each couch. In the center of the room is a decorative wheel painted onto the floor. The wheel is 5’ in diameter. In the middle of the wheel is a small lap harp made of crystal with strings of spun silver.

Thorndale picks up the Harp and strums it. It starts to glow and before them stands a very beautiful woman who introduces herself as Rowena.

“The Protectors invited her to come and live within the world of faerie. It is a land of peace and joy, Time does not flow the same their as it does here. I while but a young woman by your standards have lived their for centuries. Should I tarry to long here my true age will catch up to me and I will wither to dust.”

“The disaster that has struck Haven has been caused by the ruby which the dwarves found. The ruby is magical. While it was called “My Lady’s heart” by the people of Haven, its true name is the “The Eye of Arik”

“Arik is an ancient evil being of great power. He is also known as Arik of the Hundred Eye’, and is sometimes worshiped as a god. For his many crimes, he was banished to the Vault centuries ago to be imprisoned for all eternity.”

“Arik has been seeking to escape from the prison dimension through the ages. And he desires to take over Haven and enslave all its people. He has at last managed to send one of his eyes across the dimensional barriers into the heart of the mountains. There, the dwarves found Arik’s ruby eye and brought it to the palace, not knowing the evil they were bringing to their beloved kingdom. The ruby, though larger then most gems, looks like any other ruby and the though the Protectors would have sensed the evil, bu the time they saw the ruby it was too late. Arik had already struck.”

“The ruby is linked to Arik. It has allowed him to channel some of his evil magical power past the dimensional barriers into Haven and the power of the ruby attacks evil, chaotic creatures. Arik hopes to use the ruby “eye,” when the time is right, to open the way and cross the dimensional border to rule Haven."

“The power of the ruby has killed crops and brought disease to the animals. it has drawn orc, goblin, hobgoblin hordes into Haven to fight for its master. It has even teleported the evil cleric Cathrandamus into the palace, to prepare the ceremony that will allow Arik to cross the dimensional barriers. The ruby has turned may of the palace inhabitants to stone and trapped the princess and the mysterious stranger inside the ruby. Finally, the ruby created a magical force field around the palace to prevent help from arriving and stopping Catharandamus.”

“There are three methods to shatter the Eye. First hit it with the Red Crystal Sword that will shatter both. Second combine two silver Dragon statues to call forth the breath of a white dragon. Or third play my harp, though it will shatter the harp in the process.”

“My time is short here. You have three companions in the dungeons, which are to the north and west of here. Simply backtrack to the first courtyard and go right. With that she fades to black”

The two feral elves back track to the castle courtyard and encounter half a dozen orc’s that they gain the surprise and ambush the back two. Still with surprise on their hands they take out the next two.

The remaining two spin around to attack Ovallah but he has vanished into the shadows. Thorndale quickly smacks one over the head, turning it into a heap of dead orc gunk. Ovallah jumps from the shadows stabbing the remaining one in the neck.

A quick search gives them six sets of studded leather as well as half a dozen spears and short swords of poor quality. Which they place into their vaults, activating them.

Meanwhile 200’ west and 10’ south of The Feral Elves————Soroku and his two guards Zentis and Scrysinfind themselves chained up to the walls of stone cells. They struggle for a while before they are able to shatter their chains and free themselves.

For whatever reason their cells were left unlocked they run into each other and discover that their Rings are laid out on a table in the room. Donning their ring they arm themselves and go through the doorway to the south into a Hexagonal room containing a large sunken bath filled with water.

The sunken bath is made of white marble veined with black and gold. The walls of this room are lavishly decorated with murals of water nymphs, ponds with long reeds, and hunters stalking water birds. In one corner of the room are seven flasks and a large peacock feather fan. Flying above the bath they see five birdlike creatures. The creatures resemble small feathered anteaters, because of their long noses.

Zentis lets loose a Fireball into their midst and incinerates four of them, the remaining one dives at Scrysin to bite him but Soroku slices it in half with his Katana. Searching the room reveals that one of the seven vials of soap was a potion.

Zentis asks the Darkness for advice and is told the answer you seek lies 200 feet west and 10 feet north with other of Her servants.

They go out the SE door and enter a room containing an oaken cabinet sitting against the west wall of this hexagonal room. The cabinet is carved with scenes of springtime in Haven. The floor of the room is white marble, veined with black and gold. Opening the cabinet they find fancy pale green towels and pink bars of soap carved into dolphins. As they are pulling the towels out a spitting cobra jumps out and tries to bite Scrysin, only to shatter its fangs upon his stony skin. The cobra is cut in half by Soroku. A large golden key is found by Scrysin. No other exits they return to the sunken bath room, and choose the SW door.

This hexagonal room is decorated with mosaic tiles. The mosaic covers the entire room, the walls, the floor and the ceiling. One scene shows a man in black plate armor riding a white dragon. A young woman wearing a golden crown is riding in front of the man. Another scene shows elves playing in some woods while a white dragon watches them from a hiding place behind two tall pine trees preparing to attack. On another wall is a scene showing a pool of bright blue water. Several mermaids swim and frolic in the water. The design on the floor shows a crowned maiden, the man in black armor , and the white dragon asleep around a key hole. All the mosaics look new.

Scrysin pulls forth the key and puts its into the keyhole. The three of them hear a loud kick then keyhole disappears, while the key remains in his hand. Upon the east wall another keyhole appears. He approaches and places the key again into the keyhole. When he turns it, the key, keyhole and mosaic all disappear. A long silvery sword, floating in the air appears in the center of the room, hilt down. the blade glows with a bluish flame shedding light for 30’ if it is not placed within its own sheath.

All three of them reach for it, one of their hands touches it first it matters now who’s hand it was. The Black Knight, Ellis, appears in the room and brushes their hands away the sword flying into his hand as though with magic. The Knight swings and misses, all three attack and hurt it good, but still he fights on, not uttering a sound. The knight swings again twice, missing once and hitting a glancing blow the second time. The three of them attack again, the Knight is gravely wounded but battles onward swinging the blade again this time to miss yet again. The three of them drop the knight to the ground.

The blade then begins to float in the center of the room. The armor and knight disappear. One of them grabs the sword, nothing happens. he places it in the vault. They go through the south door.

Upon entering this room, the first thing they notice is a small, pink marble pedestal five feet tall. Any light entering the room will gleam off a small object atop the pedestal. The object is silver in color. Other then the pedestal and a door in the SE the room seems to be empty.

Calling upon their wisdom and knowledge they discover that the silver pendant once belonged to Silverheart the Alchemist. When used by Silverheart, the pendant was magical because it contained part of his spirit. The power of the Eye of Arik warped the magic of the silver pendant. Through Arik’s evil influence, the pendant drove Silverheart insane.

At the time that Silverheart went insane, he was in the midst of an important alchemical experiment, with gunpowder. Because of Silverheart’s insanity, the experiment produced disastrous results. The entire section of the palace where Silverheart was working exploded. Silverheart and those people in that section of the palace where Silverheart worked is rubble. The only thing to survive the explosion was the pendant which was teleported to the pedestal by the power of the Eye of Arik. The pendant sits and waits for its master.

They choose to leave the pendant alone and exit the SE doorway. The room is filled with steam, they stop to take a bath.

Back to the Feral Elves prowling around the Courtyard.———

They hear Southwest down a long hallway then turn south. a door is 20’ up from the corner, they enter it.

Reed pens, dried ink wells, and scrapes of paper litter this large room. There are several huge oak tables overturned in the southeast corner. This room appears to have been some kind of study, classroom or library. They did not see any books or scrolls, however.

Approaching the table fort they hear a strange noise. Thorndale calls upon the forces of Nature to grant him Command of one of the creatures in the fort. It begins to come out. A medium sized green scaled being with a long alligator snout comes out.

“What is thy bidding my Master?”

“Do you have any Shinnies?” Thorndale asks.

“Yes, me be back.”

The small being comes back bearing a small pouch that contains exactly fifty copper Capul’s. The Kobold looks up at Thorndale with adoration in its eyes and begins to tell him the layout of the area here.

Finally Thorndale has had enough and commands the Kobold to go back into the fort and convince the others to come outside. As the Kobold turns around to go inside, Thorndale raises his giant maul and goes to smash it over the Kobold’s head. He fumbles it and it goes flying off to the side. The Kobold darts over to the maul, retrieves it and offers it back to Thorndale. Who starts laughing and says; “Thank you little guy.”

The Kobold goes inside the fort a short while later it returns with five other kobolds armed with broken stave’s and busted long swords that served them as short swords. The Elves arm the Kobold’s and send them off with orders to bring back more shinnies. The one Kobold under Thorndale’s command remains with them.

They continue down a hallway and come to a room containing the remains of bunks, blankets, wooden tables and stools which have been broken. Five corpes litter the floor. Two of the bodies are humans, dressed like palace guards. The other three corpes are of a small human-like race with grotesque faces and livid skins.

Meanwhile having finished their bath———

The three enter into a cavern with a wind whistling softly through the dark damp cave carrying with it a musky smell. Straw is scattered about the floor, along with jagged bones. Chained to one wall is a large ape with pale white fur. As soon as it sees you it begins to rattles its chain and roar.

They convince the ape to pull the chain taut and cut through the chain freeing it; again the blue blade is swung again, sundering the chains that held the apes arms tight. The ape, nods at the three of them and runs off to the north and they continue to the east.

A little bit to the south——

The Feral elves enter into a large cave. The cave floor and walls have been polished smooth. Several statues once rested on a raised platform along the west wall. The statues seem to have been of three Protectors kneeling in front of a veiled woman. The woman was bestowing gifts on the Protectors. Now however, the statues have been smashed. In their place is the crude clay statue of a large eye. The eye has been painted red with blood.

They continue north in the cave and encounter a Large White Ape swinging a metal chain around its head. The two of them attack the Ape, after a fierce battle the ape is slayed.

meanwhile back with the other three --

Hearing the sounds of the Ape in battle they charge back where they came from and encounter the feral elves just as they are slaying the Ape.

Somewhere else in the Palace --

The five kobolds find another set of five kobolds being help captive by some orcs and do battle loosing none of their number in the battle. They are successful and free their fellows who agree to follow their commands. The ten kobolds set about hunting and killing within the Palace collecting Shinnies.

Everyone Receives 400 Experience for the Kills, and an additional 600 Experience for encountering Either the Harp or the Necklace and discovering the relevance of each.

The valley of Haven was a peaceful land. Its crops were abundant, its citizens prosperous. Elves, Dwarves, Halflings lived together in harmony. Hidden away in the heart of the Thunder Mountains, haven was a safe place to live. The rivers were sweet and pure; the weather was pleasant and warm.

One reason Haven was so peaceful was due to the presence of the Protectors, a magical race, from the land of Faerie. These mysterious green beings are a gentle folks and their magic helps wards off evil. They helped the crops to grow and the land of Haven to prosper.

The ruler of Haven was the fair Princess Argenta. She lived in a palace made of white shining marble, which when the sun set, glowed like silver. Princess Argenta was beloved by all her people. She was just, fair and friendly to all.

One day, the dwarves of Haven found a ruby the size of an apple while digging in a new mine. As a token of their devotion, they gave the ruby to Princess Argenta. The dwarves named the ruby “My Lady’s Heart”. The princess was so pleased with the gift that she invited all the realm to attend a celebration to see the wondrous gem. The dwarves were to be the guests of honor. It was to be a grand day of feasting and fun.

The day before the celebration a strange visitor arrived. He flew into the valley riding a white dragon. The rider was dressed all in black. He had pale skin, long blond hair and a short blond beard. Since Haven was noted for its hospitality, the princess invited the stranger to stay at the palace. She also granted his request to escort her to the celebration.

At Midnight, Disaster struck. Dark clouds hid the moon and a freezing wind blew through the valley. The crops withered in the fields. Cattle grew sick. The valley began to die.

From the palace came an explosion and parts of the walls came tumbling down. When the dust cleared it could be seen that a ruby glow surrounded the entire palace.

Haven now lies in chaos. Raiding bands of orcs, goblins, and hobgoblins terrorize the countryside. The disaster happened so suddenly that the citizens are confused and helpless. Without their leaders, who are trapped in the palace, they have no courage to fight back. Even the Protectors have disappeared. The situation has become desperate.

After 20 real minutes elapsed from when Glomp disappeared. The party then found themselves about half a mile from the Palace of Haven

A Protector appears to you and and speaks to the party.

“Haven is in dire trouble. We do no know what caused the disaster, but we do know that the reason can be found somewhere in the palace. Allies of the evil that has attacked Haven have challenged the Protectors and we are under siege. We cannot help Haven, but you can. The princess needs you; the people of Haven need you. You are Haven’s only hope. We beg you to find the source of the evil that has over-taken Haven, and destroy that evil. If you will go, We will open the way into and out of the palace for you. we will also give you all the help we can, but our power is limited. The future of Haven is in your hands.”

Approximately a half mile from the palace you can see that part of its left side has been destroyed. Stone blocks and rubble cover the mountain side. You also see that almost all of the castle and many parts of the surrounding land glow a soft red. All plant life, except some strange looking thorn bushes and white roses, has died wherever the red glow radiates.

As you travel closer to the palace, a trail untouched by the red glow appears. The trail leads directly to the entrance way of the palace. The main entrance into the palace is the only part of the palace that does not glow red. The massive, Barred portcullis which usually blocks the entrance is raised.

Your party startles a rat near the entrance. it darts out into the red glowing area, and suddenly stops, shakes a bit, and then dies. You noticed that other small, unfortunate creatures lie dead inside the red area.

The Feral Elves creep inside the open entrance way being careful to avoid stepping into any area glowing red.

Reaching the entrance of the palace, the heavy iron portcullis is raised. Entry into the palace looks clear. searching the entrance a trap is discovered and, the dart narrowly missing pat is disarmed. the way is clear so they go into the palace.

As soon as the last character enters the palace the portcullis crashes shut behind them. The red glow now covers the entire entrance way, blocking the exit. The inside of the palace does not glow red. Searching the area, nothing is found. A door to the east and west leave the courtyard and two the south are two smaller portcullises.

Approaching the East door first, attempting to listen through the door, the rattling of chains is coming from behind the door. Busting open the door they surprise two man-sized skeletons. Iron shackles and lengths of chain are fastened around the skeletons’ wrist bones. The skeletons hold swards and are facing away from the door. The skeletons are short work from the two of them. The room holds a lever labeled B in the down position, they raise it to the Up position.

Returning to the court yard they see that the portcullis’s are not raised. they enter the West door attacking a giant rat they find trapped inside the room, it too is slain. A second lever labeled A is found in this room, when it is lifted up they heard a grating, grinding sound as both the inner portcullis’s open up.

They choose to enter the eastern portcullis and come to a hallway going straight or left, they choose to follow the left wall and after a couple turns find themselves in a a caved filled with a pool of water. A small ledge circles the pool, running along the east wall of the cave, the Ledge is only wide enough for one person to walk along it without falling into the water. In the middle of the pool you see a disturbance in the water. There are several 3’ long creatures swimming towards you. The creatures look like weasels.

They too are shortly dispatched the party then retraces their steps and comes to an unlocked door, opening it they see the a small 20×20 room with the walls covered with a green oozing slime. Except for the slime, the room appeared empty, they closed And locked the door.

Following the wall again they come to a second pool, this one however is a bubbling gray pool of liquid. The cave smells foul. The pool is surround by coarse red sand. the sandy ledge surrounding the pool on the south and west side is only wide enough for one person to stand on without touching the liquid.

A body is found in the liquid, which was found out to be sulpher, the body was long decayed save for a small pouch containing 133 gold and a silver wolf-headed ring with two small sapphires for eyes. (appraised at 300g)

The next room they discover is a storeroom filled with crates full of iron rations.

They then found an area that seems to have been in some kind of explosion or earthquake. Stairs once led up out of this area. Rubble covers the floor and blocks the stairs. Through cracks in the rubble, you catch a faint glimpse of a red glow outside the palace.

They heard the clicking of giant mandibles, but could not locate where it was coming from.

The next room contained a small fountain of water in one corner of the room. Tapestries hang along both the north and south walls; one shows a scene of a young maiden with golden hair sitting on a silver throne. Upon her head rests a crown of silver and rubies. In one hand she holds a silver scepter and in the other she holds a large ruby. The other tapestry shows a warrior in black plate mail resting causally in a wooden chair decorated with carvings, his feet are propped upon a stool.

The party then enters into an anteroom that is a 10’ wide semi-circular alcove. On either side of the alcove are two statues of the warrior carved from a clear crystal. There are two doors leading out of the room. they choose the left door.

Coming to a fork they go left, as usual and enter into a room on their right hand side.

The room is full of shelves full of books and scrolls, there are also a number of wooden tables and chairs in the room, they notice that the room has more candles to light it then is usual, the candles are not lit at present. Against the south wall is a fireplace which is also unlit.

As the party is exploring the room a giant spider jumps down and attacks them attempting to sting one of them. but misses the attack. The giant crap spider is dealt with shortly and a magical scroll is discovered stuck inside of a spiderweb in a corner with the word “Web” scribed upon it.

The past year has seen a couple of new developments.. the Grey-mists that once turned around sailors and airmen 200 miles out to sea no longer exist. Scouts on both sides have reported that there is no visible trace of the Titans on either of the other two Lands.

Pitched lines have been established right down the center of Trianglus as both sides battle for dominion. The Dwarves remaining neutral and keeping their lands secure from both the good and the evil races.

Both groups scurry around like rats on a sinking ship to send out colony ships to establish footholds across the two unknown lands…

What does the future hold in store? Only time and your assistance will answer that. Who will you be? Which side will fight for? Will the Dwarves remain neutral in the new lands or will they take one or both sides in battle?

Now what?

Before you stands a huge Minotaur, a giant maul rests under his hands, strapped across his back is giant battle-axe. His pale ivory broken horns stand out against his deep ebony platemail, which seems to absorb most of the light in the room. His eyes seem to burn with a fiery light deep inside of you, where you have hidden away the last of your goodness.

He says in a deep rumble. “On behalf of our Dark Queen, I Glomp do bid you welcome to this the Dungeon Master Bryan’s Evil Campaign. Her Majesty bid’s me to tell you of the differences between this shadow world and the others you may have traveled within.”

“You see, our world lies in another dream, a different conjecture of space and time.”

“In our time the date is year 2 The date today is 28 Sypheros, Your hunt will start at sunrise of the 1st of Ardith. Remember the basics, there are still only a dozen months of 28 days each with a year length of 340 days, Counting the four hidden days.”

“Well, not so much hidden, but they stand outside of normal time. They are the Winter solstice when Evil rules the day and Good cowers inside. The Spring Solstice when Law turns Chaos aside. The Summer Solstice when Evil hides from Goodness. The Fall Solstice when Chaos scatters Law to the four winds.”

“Enough history for now, you will remember more as your new bodies strengthen and grow.”

Glomp then pulls out a scroll and begins to read aloud from it.

“You three Feral Elves have been summoned here from whatever dark pit Her Highness saw fit to call you out of. You have all been returned from the dead. Great is her power and she has saved you from oblivion.”

“A mighty-silent and not so silent war has raged across the world since time immemorial. You three have been chosen by one of the Powers to serve Her. In time others too will be sent to you from her you will know them by their rings.”

“You and the others are tasked with three Quests, or Geas, if you prefer.”

“The first of these is to seek out and find four artifacts from the First war. Though it was millennia ago, the magic in those items is still functioning, A spell hit them and scattered them to the eight corners of the world. If that means the Continent or the World, you are to find out.”

“The Eight items are the Rings of Dar and Lar, The Bracers of Mosia and Esia, The Spear of Pel, The Breastplate of Osia, The Crown of Lium and Finally onto the Blue rose of Roth.”

“Once the Larmosia and Daresia are reassembled, guide your hands to the shattered fragments of Pel’s Spear.

“With Pel’s Spear reforged, the mighty breastplate worn by Osia may be retrieved. Pelosia will guide your hunt to find the Crown of Lium, which will only work for Her of the Darkest of Bloods.”

“Once you wear the Crown, a vision from Herself will fill the Area, You will see where,” Glomp snorts, “to go to find the Rose of Roth.”

“Be warned that only a Landen may afix the Rose to the Crown. With the Rothlium you may restore life to the dead, even if they be dust upon the winds.”

“Thus ends your first Task.”

“Your second task is simply to discover where the titans went to, when they left here ten thousand years ago. For there are no ruins yet found in the first year of exploration on land or in from the air.”

“Thus ends your second Task.”

“The third quest is to establish an Empire upon one or both of the new lands, or conquer this one for that matter. You may conquer, purchase, or trade for new lands of the Empire, Bring civilization to the wilds.”

“Perhaps do something about the dwarves and their trains, that would be a huge advantage.”

“Thus ends your second Task.”

“As she bids, I Glomp am your Master. I have the Power over your lives and deaths, do not disappoint us. Hear now her Prophecy.”

The Sleeping child, the youngest born, lives on in Dreams, though Death has come to Write her name with-in his tome and no one yet has thought to mourn.

The Middle Child who sleeping lies ’Twixt water sky and shifting sands stir silent holding patient hand until the she can rise

The Eldest child rests Deep With-in the Ever Silent Vault of Earth, Unborn as Yet but with its birth The End of Time itself begins

“The First Child of Prophecy lies sleeping, sheltered deep within these Mountains, She is an Earth-child, A being made of Living Stone, Left over from when the world was born. To our knowledge she is the last of her race, which the Titans Fashioned out of Living Earth. The ribs of her body are made of the same living stone that comprises the Vault, It would act as a Key to it, we she to fall into the hands of the F’Dor. And they know she is here.”

“The Second Child mentioned is the start that fell millennia ago into the sea on the other side of the world, the same start that shattered the Vault. That burning star, which slept beneath the sea for thousands of years, Rose and Consumed the Island of Serrendair in a Fiery Cataclysm centuries ago. And for all the destruction that ensued, for all the lives lost , she brought far less damage then the other two could.”

“Long ago at the Beginning of Time, When There were none but the firstborn elemental races, the F’dor stole something from the Dragons – From the Progenitor of the Race, The Eldest of all Wyrms. It was an Egg! They took this nascent Dragon, the unborn Wyrm, which had in its blood all the elements, and twisted it, made it impure, though it was kept in a state of stasis, allowed to grow until it became part of the very fabric of the world. Deeper even then the Vault, lies the sleeping child, a beast of unimaginable size, slumbering in cold down-world caverns. Waiting for its Name to be Called as all Dragons must to be summoned to Life.”

“It has grown thus and remained unchecked, asleep, because the F’Dor were imprisoned within the Vault, all the Heat of their Evil Fire was taken from them. But should they be freed they will immediately call it to Life.”

“And it will Awaken.”

“It WILL consume the World, and all of your kind.”

“Some seek to open the vault and they think they can control the minds of the F’Dor, Chaos Has No Mind, its only goal is to destroy, Everything.”

“In Flamedair near the western borders you will find a Forged One who has Named himself Lar, Yesterday he left Flamekeep for a patrol along our borders he runs with a small company of troops. The ring he bears hides him from more, exact scrying.”

“To the south in Cerelund near the river you will find a second Forged One who is of course named Dar. He too is hidden from Direct Scrying, but the squad of troops with him is not.”

“A Choice You must make, Do you go West or South?”

“We place the choice in your hands.”

A pair of scroll’s appear in OVallah’s hands.

“When you are ready, you have simply to read the scroll. They will teleport you to a perfect ambush spot for either.”

“When you have accomplished these tasks, I will know and you will be contacted, unless other plans require my presence. In which case you will continue as you will.”

Glomp Fades away into the Darkness.

You Do remember dieing.

But as for the rest, can you really believe that a minotaur and his Dark Queen are trying to save the world from some-one or thing called the F’Dor and that non-sense about the Prophecy and the great beast, let alone some placed called the Vault.

A blog for your campaign

While the wiki is great for organizing your campaign world, it’s not the best way to chronicle your adventures. For that purpose, you need a blog!

The Adventure Log will allow you to chronologically order the happenings of your campaign. It serves as the record of what has passed. After each gaming session, come to the Adventure Log and write up what happened. In time, it will grow into a great story!

Best of all, each Adventure Log post is also a wiki page! You can link back and forth with your wiki, characters, and so forth as you wish.

One final tip: Before you jump in and try to write up the entire history for your campaign, take a deep breath. Rather than spending days writing and getting exhausted, I would suggest writing a quick “Story So Far” with only a summary. Then, get back to gaming! Grow your Adventure Log over time, rather than all at once.